Welcome to "The Freshman Foundation", a podcast that explores the human side of athletes and the real stories behind the glory and the grind.
Our mission is to help young athletes BE READY for every next step in the game of life.
How is Tyler Seward creating a safe place for young athletes to discuss mental health?
Have you ever felt like you're seen as a performer first and a person second? Where your worth depends on your results rather than who you truly are?
In Episode 60, we talk to Tyler Seward, a former athlete turned entrepreneur who is on a mission to reshape the narrative. From the highs of victory to the lows of injury, from the pressures of performance to the challenges of balancing sport with life, we're going beyond the game to uncover the real experiences of athletes and the people who guide them.
So, what was your biggest takeaway from my conversation with Tyler Seward?
My biggest takeaway is that the identity of an individual extends far beyond their athletic prowess. Athletes are multifaceted beings, capable of much more than just their sports-related accomplishments. The pressure to perform and the eventual inevitability of retirement can bring about an emotional turmoil that is often hard to navigate. The antidote, it appears, is to seek fulfillment in diverse pursuits beyond the athletic field.
I urge budding athletes to reflect on their passions outside the sporting arena and dedicate time and energy towards nurturing those interests. Having such external interests not only enriches your life presently but also cultivates a groundwork for meaning and contentment in your life beyond sports.
I want to thank Tyler for his kind generosity and the wisdom he shared with The Freshman Foundation Community.
You can learn more about The Life Play by visiting their Instagram page and YouTube channel.
To learn how you can BE READY for your next step in the game of life, visit https://michaelvhuber.com.
Thank you for listening. We’ll see you back soon for Episode 61.
00:00.00
mvhuber
Hey Tyler how's it going I'm good. Thanks for joining me on the podcast. It's great to have you here? um founder of the life play lllc is that correct. So so tell me how what was the inspiration or the the genesis of.
00:03.10
Tyler Seward
I'm great. Thank you for having me. Are you.
00:11.18
Tyler Seward
Yes, sir.
00:19.59
mvhuber
Ah, founding the wife play.
00:19.91
Tyler Seward
So growing up a athlete like many kids out there I wanted to be professional I wanted to play in the and Nba I played basketball ever since I was around five years old and I played high level basketball. So I played. In like the Nike circuits always since I was in middle school and you know like the goal was to get a division one scholarship and then as I kept playing basketball and got into high school and all that it was looking. It was looking a little slow for that for that scholarship and. Like as the years went on in high school I really started to become less confident in my in myself. Not even as a basketball player or an athlete but just in general and that really translated to ah. Me um, acting out or just not being myself you know and it came to a point where I had to actually sit down with a therapist and and really figure out what's going on and after I went through that whole process I really understood that.
01:19.19
mvhuber
And.
01:33.71
Tyler Seward
Lots of athletes go through the same the same process and the same feeling and have always have to answer that question of who am I after they're finished this sport so that's when I really came up with the life play with that with the with the help of my dad with the name you know I Just especially growing up I always. Always like to help people and once I had to figure out who I was I had to figure out what I was going to be studying in college because regardless I came from a nice family I was still going to be able to go to go to college and and have a nice career. So once I thought thought through all that I'm like you know.
02:04.45
mvhuber
And.
02:12.53
Tyler Seward
Think a therapist would be nice because like I said I like to help people so then that's when the life play came about and I just want to help as many people first and then athletes as well in just the process of life.
02:24.33
mvhuber
So so at what point or how old were you when you started to kind of have those feelings or started to sort of question. The future.
02:28.15
Tyler Seward
Please.
02:36.45
Tyler Seward
So I would say for me, it really came my junior year so my sophomore year when I was playing basketball. We actually went underdefeated in 1 state championship so that year um I prayed played pretty well. Um, and. Say going into that summer actually when I wasn't playing on like the Nike circuit anymore and teams weren't really calling calling my calling my name or calling my numbers to have me on their team. That's when I really started to form these feelings of like inadequacy and feeling like.
03:10.26
mvhuber
Um.
03:11.44
Tyler Seward
I could be better and then that led into my Junior Junior year season where I only played about half of the season and I was dealing with injuries and um, dealing with my coach. Lots of different things and during. My Junior Year was definitely one of the hardest years of my life and that's when I really started to transition into a different way of thinking.
03:35.56
mvhuber
Okay, and so the different way of thinking was that was that as a result of working with a therapist or was that sort of just a shift in your thinking on your own.
03:46.16
Tyler Seward
So I said de has definitely helped helped me work through that and form that different. Um those different thought patterns because before I went to Therapy I I was just thinking like without basketball. What am I gonna do with my life things like that.
04:03.99
mvhuber
Sure.
04:05.97
Tyler Seward
And after I went to the therapist. He helped me really realize that as I mentioned before I come from a ah good family. Um or financially stable so that without basketball I would be fine and also what really what really helped me the therapist talked about is he told me to list like all the things that I'm good at. And I started going through it like I'm creative I'm I'm smart I'm a hard worker all these things and then I'm really thinking like without basketball I'm going to be perfectly fine. So then that's when I really transition transition my thinking into. Like I'm just more I'm more than an athlete I'm a human being with lots of lots of hobbies and lots of talent that will be shown throughout my my next my next years of life.
04:44.77
mvhuber
And.
04:53.95
mvhuber
Yeah I mean it comes up so often in the work that I do with athletes you know in that age group the high school athlete whose identities are so tied to there there being an athlete that everything else just gets drowned out right? so. Like that athlete piece is just so big and all these other things that are important in our lives take a back seat and when things don't go our way it really magnifies like the way you feel about yourself because now you're only judging yourself on your performance and not on anything else like. Hey I'm a hard worker hey I'm a smart guy I'm a good friend I'm a good son right? Those are all important things but we just take them for granted or assume them away and now everything's about me being an athlete so it's not what you described is is not uncommon and it's great that you were able to to come to that conclusion. You know before it became a bigger problem right.
05:41.70
Tyler Seward
Yeah.
05:51.54
Tyler Seward
Again.
05:52.33
mvhuber
So I'm curious So like the the the going to Therapy was that your idea was it somebody else's idea how did you feel about taking that leap because a lot of people will resist it.
06:05.33
Tyler Seward
Yeah, so there was a time where um I I made some actions where my parents were like really questioning like like what is going on where did this come from and then we just sat down and had a conversation and in that conversation. That's where I Really just.
06:18.23
mvhuber
A.
06:25.10
Tyler Seward
Broke down and told them everything How I've been feeling for like a good amount of time and then like through that process they were like yeah I think you should go to therapy and I was always someone like I was never against therapy. But what's crazy was I never thought I'd need Therapy. So. They mentioned that I might need therapy I wasn't resilient against it. Um, you know I was like sure. Let's let's see how it is So Yeah I was I was never against it. But like I said I just never thought that I would need it and I did need it and it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
06:51.40
mvhuber
And.
07:02.70
Tyler Seward
Short.
07:03.55
mvhuber
Yeah, um, well I mean I think one of the things that we can do is to be open about that process because I spent many years in therapy myself and I think you know before I entered therapy where I felt like I needed to right like I was ready to. Um I I would I would have said the same thing to myself I don't need that right? It's not something that I need and like there has to be something really wrong for me to go there and unfortunately that's the way it typically plays out right? You get to a place where you don't know where to turn to get the help that you need and it's the last resort.
07:29.44
Tyler Seward
That is.
07:39.63
mvhuber
But the reality is is that talking to somebody before you have to is really the best prevention of of right? It's a different approach right? There's a proactive way to talk to people and open up and I think being able to let people know and to your credit at your age. Let people know that you've done it and it's helped you is. A huge asset to young people who may resist the idea that they need to talk to somebody.
08:06.60
Tyler Seward
Definitely and I still go to therapy here and there especially here at f value we have therapists that are right on campus that we can go to so anytime. Ah I'm feeling like down or or in a certain mood like before like you said that.
08:09.70
mvhuber
In.
08:22.65
Tyler Seward
Proactive before I even get to the point where I'm just spiraling down I go and talk to some tough to somebody and it's helpful every time.
08:28.80
mvhuber
Yeah I think you raise a really interesting point and I'm curious to get your perspective on it and your experience. so so I know for me that I think when I entered into therapy. The 1 thing that I really did not have a grasp on and I was much older than you is I didn't really have a grasp of identifying my feelings right. Understanding what I was feeling before it got too bad. It just would happen and then it would be so magnified that I would break down or blow up or whatever you want to call it and it sounds like you're at a place in your life where you can kind of identify things that are coming on and you could cut it off. By saying hey I need to talk to somebody I mean have you seen that transformation from the time you started therapy until now.
09:14.65
Tyler Seward
Definitely. But for me I was always someone where I'm very in tune with my feelings and I always like could identify my feelings. But for me, it was really how do I manage those feelings because I always knew those feelings were there. But.
09:25.90
mvhuber
In.
09:30.98
Tyler Seward
It was like who do I talk to about these feelings because maybe I didn't trust people things like that. So it's like going to therapy really helped me figure out ways of managing those feelings and forming different like I said before a different thought processes and just forming like positive positive thinking.
09:33.56
mvhuber
Sure.
09:49.12
Tyler Seward
Because lots of times you can. You can have negative negative thinking negative feelings and know it's negative but then not know where to go from there So Therapy has really just helped me manage my feelings as a whole.
09:49.45
mvhuber
Um.
09:54.85
mvhuber
Sure. Yeah I mean it's the way you know Therapy is a bit different from what I do because my work is really meant to be in performance only but it's the same idea right? which is to say like you're teaching people the skills to to do something different with their thoughts and feelings right. To manage it proactively to have skills and strategies to shift it when you identify it right? and I think that that's valuable for anybody right? You don't have to be an athlete to seek that out because in our own Way. We're all performers were students where. Employees where athletes whatever but we still go through the same things just for some reason I feel like with athletes. It's like more magnified um maybe more so than somebody who just goes through life. You know every day I'm curious.
10:44.45
Tyler Seward
He.
10:53.16
mvhuber
So did you play basketball your senior year.
10:56.81
Tyler Seward
Yeah, so I did play basketball with my senior year and it was actually like right after Covid so it wasn't even a ah full basketball Season. We played with masks on and um, by that point, especially the way like colleges were recruiting and stuff like that that whole. Year of recruiting was just all out of whack. So I like while I was playing basketball I Really just wanted to focus on having fun because I would say the year before I wasn't having fun playing basketball at All. So My main goal was just to have fun I knew.
11:20.85
mvhuber
And.
11:31.24
Tyler Seward
I knew college of basketball probably wasn't going to come to me so it's like let me enjoy my last year and really prepare my my mind for what's what's coming next.
11:40.53
mvhuber
So at that point during your senior year. Did you just sort of resolve yourself to the fact that you probably weren't going to play basketball in college so you could enjoy it. Um, or do you think I mean do you think if there would have been some sort of opportunity or an offer that came to you at that point. You think you would have taken it or changed your mind. Okay, okay, sure.
12:00.98
Tyler Seward
Oh I would have taken it for sure for sure I would have taken it and I was I was definitely still playing like trying to impress college coaches things like that. But I'll never forget when my like before the basketball season started my dad said he said um. Like what will happen or how you feel if you don't get that scholarship and then that's when it really like really started to like go through my head like then I'm just gonna just gonna go on with the life. Hey yeah.
12:20.14
mvhuber
M.
12:30.46
mvhuber
Sure, Yeah, yeah, but but I think it's important right? because I think what you've just sort of illustrated is there was an acceptance on your part that it wasn't in your control completely and that if it were to were to happen. Great right? I would have been happy. But I'm also resigned to the fact that hey if this doesn't happen I'll accept it and I'll move on to something else which I think is where the biggest hangup happens for young athletes because they've invested so much in the process of athletics up until that point and for many athletes The the. Ultimate goal result is that they want is a scholarship. They want an offer and they want to commit to a school and they want to you know, know that their effort paid off and then when it doesn't happen. It creates an anxiety or as they get closer to the end of their senior year.. There's this clock Ticking. It comes up a lot. You know there's sort of metaphorical clock sort of ticking above their head going like I have to get an offer and that sort of narrows the the the vision right now it becomes like the walls are closing in versus hey i' just going to go have fun and whatever happens happens and for a lot of young people. It's really not the easiest thing to do to say. Hey I'm going to go have a good time and enjoy myself and whatever happens happens I think you're probably the exception and not the rule and it sounds like therapy and you're sort of support of your family and and your own work that you've done allowed you to do that. So That's a credit to you.
13:59.46
Tyler Seward
I Appreciate that hey I would I'll definitely say I have to give credit to the therapist and my parents for sure because we me my parents. We definitely had some hard talks where it's like it's like this is what it is like this is reality and.
14:08.76
mvhuber
Sure.
14:17.62
Tyler Seward
You either set reality or you stay depressed and stay sad over something that at this point you have not much control over.
14:23.72
mvhuber
Yeah I mean credit to your parents I mean I am a parent and I know you know I I know how how much parents want their children to be happy and and to get the things that they want but you know probably the most important part of our job is to help our children face.
14:28.27
Tyler Seward
I.
14:42.75
mvhuber
Challenges right? like help them work through that and listen not a lot of not every parent is equipped to do that in a constructive way and it sounds like your parents were very supportive but also very you know direct about what they thought your options were and I think that that's that's a great thing. Ah, because clearly you've moved past it into this next phase of your life where you've started a business around you know mental health you know for athletes you've moving on to you know, bigger and better things and hoping to go on and get ah you know, ah you know an advanced degree in in Psychology And Sports Psychology so can you talk about that. Can you talk about your goals for the future.
15:24.57
Tyler Seward
So my goals for the future right now. Ah I'm finishing up my undergrad I have about a year left and I should be graduating may twenty and 24 and after that I should be starting graduate school for the professional counseling in psychology at florida international university starting.
15:36.56
mvhuber
Yeah.
15:41.44
Tyler Seward
Um, may or Fall twenty twenty four and then that's about 2 years and then after that I want to go into the ph d program for support psychology. So yeah I've I definitely have big goals and.
15:44.69
mvhuber
Okay.
15:50.77
mvhuber
Excellent.
15:56.60
Tyler Seward
Matter if it was basketball or whatever it is I've always been somebody who had big goals.
16:01.30
mvhuber
Yeah, it's interesting because it's It's actually been coming up a lot in these conversations I have on the podcast. The the idea that aren and this is like ah ah a hypothesis that I've been forming over some time that Athletes Former Athletes. You know, really find their way to entrepreneurship because it's a very similar experience right? There's this sort of unknown goal down the road when you start a business and I can relate because I going through it right now there's this unknown goal but you're going towards it Full steam ahead. With really no net in a lot of cases right? You're just doing it. You're putting in the investment and the effort and the time because it means something to you and you want you're doing it for you know a purpose and if it turns into something bigger. That's great. But if it doesn't That's okay, I'm going to keep working towards it. And I think athletes really gravitate toward that. But I think we live in a world where you know maybe the the next step for a lot of people is I'm going to go get a job and I'm going to make money and a lot of time I can speak for my own experience like that experience was great, but it was also very limiting. And I think this entrepreneurship path for athletes is such an important thing because it really does allow them to feel that energy and purpose and you know mission that they had as an athlete and now translating it into something that really means something to them which it sounds like that's exactly what you're going through.
17:30.87
Tyler Seward
Definitely and something for me is in the in basketball and the basketball world. There's lots of factors that you can't really control especially when you're on a team and you have a coach and other teammates things like that and just that feeling of.
17:43.52
mvhuber
Um.
17:45.90
Tyler Seward
Like not being able to control every variable that that can bring lots of anxiety to people and actually brings like anxiety to me. So my thing with like owning my own business is like whatever I it's like the work I put in is. Most of the time the work that I'll get out so it's not like I will be relying on somebody higher than me or something like that I will be.. It's it's on me and I kind of like that because if it's up to me I will put in the work I will put in whatever I need to do to make things happen. But yes, Sir Yes I'm still going to have to collaborate with other people and rely on others. But for the most part I feel like I'm in a lot more control than I would say I have been in the past.
18:36.85
mvhuber
Yeah I can relate to that and and I want to ah want to come back to that. But I I did want to ask you a question before I forget so what was it like when you left when you graduated high school and you go to college and you're no longer a basketball player. Like what was it like that first year of college when you were sort of without sport like the best way I could ask it? Wow ok.
18:56.31
Tyler Seward
I felt free I felt like I felt like I could be anything that I want. It's like at this point I could choose because coming from New Jersey and I went to high school in Pennsylvania like the people in that area. They knew me as a basketball player. My family. They knew me as a basketball player. But as I've moved down to Miami for for college people don't know me as a basketball player. So now I can create my own legacy and create my my new brand to the people that are around me and that that was so so freeing and I love that.
19:27.58
mvhuber
And.
19:33.54
Tyler Seward
And I had a ah great time. Yeah I didn't even really have to adjust to be honest because I was always someone like I I like to have fun I I'm a I'm a big personality outside of my sport in general. So it wasn't It wasn't really harsh for me. It was it was kind of nice.
19:49.98
mvhuber
Yeah, you still played you still plenty ball.
19:52.50
Tyler Seward
I definitely still play basketball actually played about 4 games at the at the wreck gym yesterday was sore and everything after but I still love it.
20:04.47
mvhuber
That's great. Yeah I think that's important and I think that's something that gets overlooked which is to say you know there's a bigger.. There's a bigger purpose a lot of times with sport that we don't really think about but like that ability to stay active and healthy and competitive. As you get older is really an important part of mental Health I can speak from my own experience right? to continue to have that that part of your life but it doesn't It's not life and death. It's I'm going to go play I'm going to go run for 2 hours I'm going to feel good I'm gonna.
20:31.57
Tyler Seward
And.
20:37.50
mvhuber
Have that competitive spirit I'm going to have teamwork I'm gonna have you know all those things but then I can walk away and go do something else versus having it be okay I have to get up again tomorrow and do it all over again and have it be a chore or a job.
20:41.61
Tyler Seward
Yeah. Yeah, exactly and that's what that's what basketball, especially as you're playing your whole life. It's like a tour like a job and like I said it's it's freeing to be able to go to the gym play with some friends and then.
20:55.90
mvhuber
A.
21:05.00
Tyler Seward
Go home and maybe watch watch the and Nba game just relax and not have to worry about waking up the next one where you're doing the same thing over and over. So yeah I enjoy and but I had to get to the point of being able to just play basketball and not think about like wow. I could have I could have played in college or I should have been in Nba stuff like that I had to get past that point so when I first came to college I wasn't playing basketball I wasn't but once I once I got more comfortable in my my new skin. Um, and I played basketball here and there.
21:22.79
mvhuber
Right? right.
21:42.12
Tyler Seward
That's when I really started to get back into it like yeah like I thought yesterday I played 4 games I haven't played 4 games the basketball a long time.
21:46.15
mvhuber
It's great I Love it.. It's great. It's great I mean I I Love that I think it's really really important and I think it's something you continue to do into adulthood and it doesn't go away that that that same feeling will be with you I Think if you continue to do it. Regardless of whether or not it means means something or not um so can you talk about some of the work that you're doing and obviously I'm familiar because I I mean you know just like a lot of things nowadays you know you find people on social media and you you follow what they're doing and and I've followed your work and I. You know I think it's Great. You know so can you just talk about like what the life play is doing what you know?? What's your what's what's happening out there.
22:26.87
Tyler Seward
So right now in the beginning stages of the life play. We're mostly on all the social media instagram Twitter Youtube and at this point like I just want to open up the conversation around mental health specifically mental health in sport. So right now we have a podcast where we bring on athletes. We've had 1 met performance consoling I love to have you on if if I can get if I can get my zencast to work and I love to have you on too. But yeah, right now we have the podcast just to open up the conversation and allow the conversation to be.
22:43.85
mvhuber
Um.
22:48.67
mvhuber
Um, all right.
22:57.25
mvhuber
Yeah, yeah.
23:02.36
Tyler Seward
Um, not as not a scary conversation but just reality and also to take that negative stigma away from mental health. That's the main goal right now as I don't have my like the private practice isn't running yet I'm just.
23:07.76
mvhuber
Um, yeah.
23:22.80
Tyler Seward
In the beginning stages and my my whole thing is just to open up that conversation because it's so beneficial and especially when I repost things to my my own personal Instagram things like that and people and like regular people see it not even athletes or anything it just it takes away that anxiety of talking about. These real life feelings and these real life situations that people have but don't want to really talk about it. So yeah I just want to um this is saying you know you can you can shove things down down people's throats and it's like the more people see things.
23:42.26
mvhuber
Um.
23:45.70
mvhuber
Yeah.
23:58.23
mvhuber
Um, and.
24:00.94
Tyler Seward
The the less it the less it negatively? well the less they have a negative picture of it. Yeah, so it's like so it's like saying saying you're having it down that though that might sound pretty bad but but like that's pretty much what you're doing. It's like the more people see things.
24:06.90
mvhuber
Yeah, absolutely.
24:20.63
Tyler Seward
The more they get used to it So that's that's all I'm doing.
24:20.97
mvhuber
And I think so so you know this is probably going to sound a bit self-serving as somebody who's actually in the process of recording a podcast but I find that the podcast format is a really great way to bring out those stories. Where it's not like hey I'm posting a 1 way video clip or I'm I'm posting up a graphic and I'm I'm telling you my opinion about something. It's a conversation between 2 people 1 of whom is telling their story about this is what I went through right and to me. That's the most powerful form of learning and what I would say to you as somebody who's much your senior having the benefit of doing this podcast and going through this exercise is really going to inform your work in private practice down the road it does for me now in real time where I go and I talk to people. They're giving me a totally different perspective in a lot of different areas whether it's a coach and athlete a mental performance expert a parenting coach whoever I'm learning from them rather than just relying on the books right? like textbooks and research articles.
25:31.20
Tyler Seward
Um, and.
25:32.96
mvhuber
Which is all the things I I look at too because that's part of my practice right? I have to know the evidence I have to know it's out there I need to know that there is a theory behind something that I'm positing but at at the at the same time there needs to be a story component to it and you're doing that already right? and I think it's huge. Because now you're bringing on people to talk about themselves and it's not hey I want I think you should do this. It's hey tell me about what you did right? It's from a place of action rather than a place of sort of prescription.
26:00.16
Tyler Seward
Definitely see and and that's the interesting thing about life. Everybody has a story no matter what walk of life you came from every single person has a story like I bring on college athletes who have probably been. Best in their sport from their hometowns and when they get to college they're they're probably still one of the best but people only see the athlete. They don't see the actual person behind the athlete. So when I bring them into my podcast sit down and have that conversation I Really want to show.
26:35.45
mvhuber
Yes.
26:35.97
Tyler Seward
The human being in these people because that gets overlooked as an athlete and it's ah like once people are finished playing their sport or finish practice. They go home and they're a regular human being just like everyone knows.
26:47.50
mvhuber
Yeah, so that actually raises a really interesting point or interesting topic from me and and and I'm going to look for your perspective here on this because I think one of the things that I see in my work with athletes is that coaches. Are looking at their their players as athletes first and people second now I'm not saying that's universal because I don't think that's true. But I think that ends up being the source of a lot of anxiety and identity crises because it's like they're not seeing me for all that I am.
27:14.11
Tyler Seward
Ah.
27:26.38
mvhuber
All they care about is the way that I perform on the court I mean as somebody who's not that far removed from Sport you know you're a pretty young guy like what's your thought on that.
27:35.10
Tyler Seward
Well me personally like that was my experience in high school I felt as though I was just looked at as an athlete and people liking me was based on how well I did on the basketball court things like that and then my junior year where and I wasn't playing that good.
27:51.24
mvhuber
Um, and.
27:54.10
Tyler Seward
I was dealing with injuries people just I felt as though people didn't care about me anymore and it's like that with so many people I had J C Hinton who's a swimmer at the University Of Miami on my podcast and she's talked about how she's like she feels like she's just like a mascot of of the school and.
27:57.75
mvhuber
Broke.
28:14.90
Tyler Seward
Everybody's just looking at her looking at her times things like that I also had a soccer player named ah Matthias Lavano um and he was talking about the differences between soccer in America and that back where he's from in France he said in America everything is just based on your performance.
28:27.55
mvhuber
And.
28:33.18
Tyler Seward
Um, and less on even how even how much you get better things like that is just once it's time to play you better perform but he said back home in France lots lot of lots of emphasis was put on getting better and how are you things like that. So. Yeah, it's definitely something that that goes on in every sport at every level and yes I've I've dealt with that personally for sure.
28:58.28
mvhuber
Yeah, yeah, and you know I think it's a really really challenging subject because I kind of I kind of want to go back to what you were talking about before when you were sort of describing why you like entrepreneurship which is you were saying you know I feel like I have more control right? which I think is true right when you play for a coach. Coach has a lot of control. They dictate a lot of the outcomes right? do I get on the floor. Do I not get on the floor where do I play how many minutes all those things right? and so that can lead to a sense of discomfort and anxiety potentially and so one of the things I I try to teach to the the athletes that I work with is hey. I Don't think it's right that you feel like your coach is looking at you as ah as an athlete first and a person second I don't think that's right, but that's also real life right? That's the reality of it. So Can you one put yourself into your coach's shoes meaning. A lot of these people get paid to win games right? and so that's sort of their primary focus to like these are your feelings and these are your thoughts like you've got to be responsible for them in the sense that you may not like what's going on around you but do you have the tools to.
29:57.61
Tyler Seward
Um, yeah.
30:12.15
mvhuber
To to make peace with that or to manage them even if the things that are going on around. You aren't right or just or you know justified and I think that that is a skill that a lot of young people could do better at learning which is sort of you know that avocacy self-advocacy right? So like.
30:31.40
Tyler Seward
Um, and.
30:31.78
mvhuber
And don't know what you think about that. But I I kind of wanted to put it to you because you're you're kind of in it.
30:34.75
Tyler Seward
Yeah, so that's exactly what was going on with me in high school right? I knew things were unjust I knew things could have played out in different ways. But I didn't have the tools in my toolbox to.
30:49.47
mvhuber
Yeah, yeah.
30:51.66
Tyler Seward
Really manage those emotions and not allow it to affect me so it did completely affect me and going back to what you mentioned about the coaches and like you said they get paid to win game and so I completely respect it and I know that coaches need to do what they need to do to get the most out of the team things like that. But that's why I would love for all colleges all professional teams things like that to have a sports psychologist on the staff to help the players because the coaches aren't therapists. The coaches aren't medical performance consultants. They don't they don't focus on that part of the the player.
31:20.97
mvhuber
Um.
31:30.74
Tyler Seward
So that's why I feel like it's definitely important and I was just speaking about this on my podcast I'd love for my company to consult with teams and and ah teams and organizations and have a sports psychologist on the staff of these teams to really help the players because it will. It'll be be beneficial for the players.
31:31.19
mvhuber
Um, and.
31:38.70
mvhuber
Are.
31:47.84
mvhuber
Yeah I think it's I think it's changing you know I think it depends on the sport but I do think it's changing I mean I do think it's still underserved. Actually I think it's underserved at the college level even more so than at the pro level I think a lot of these colleges that are really really high.
31:48.29
Tyler Seward
And the team as a whole.
32:07.73
mvhuber
Ah, ah profile high budget. You know power 5 programs have three 4 500 student athletes many of whom are on scholarship many of whom are now making money many of whom are you know under extreme pressure and they have 1 sport psychology professional for 500 kids
32:25.83
Tyler Seward
Um, yeah, yeah.
32:27.69
mvhuber
And it's like you know there's just this lack of resource and I do think there's room for that. But the other thing I talk a lot about is is you know this idea that we as mental performance professionals. We can also be teaching the coaches in terms of this is. These are the things that you should know because you have they have more exposure to the players than than we'll ever have right? like I might see a guy once a week or I might be out on the field once a week or whatever watching from afar. But those coaches are with them all the time. Do. They understand what you know you know. Ah, you know proper motivation is do they understand how to ask good questions. Do they understand you know all these different nuances of what makes a person tick so that they're not necessarily expert but they can identify or they can manage and then they can refer back to people like us and I think. It's just going to continue ah to evolve and I think the work. What's encouraging for me and I this is my second career. My second you know, um I started in sports psychology in my forty s I think what's really encouraging for me is there's more and more young people coming into the field with this mission of I want to change. Things I want it to be better I want to use my experience as an athlete to help other athletes I think that is what's going to drive. This forward is this idea that we're really invested in the betterment of people's lives in the sporting context. It's a really cool thing and.
34:00.20
mvhuber
You know you're you're you're just starting out on that journey and you're way ahead of where I am and you know I think it's really really impressive.
34:07.63
Tyler Seward
Thank you I Really appreciate that and I'm glad you mentioned that about the coaches because that's something that I would love to love to do in the near future have seminars talking to coaches. Um, maybe have a course different things just to teach coaches. These.
34:23.31
mvhuber
Um, yeah.
34:25.00
Tyler Seward
Techniques and the things to to look for and this whole conversation right here about coaches and and athletes it brings me back to a class that I'm actually currently in which is Io Psychology like industrial organizational psychology where it's like you can have you can use the industrial psychology part of it and.
34:32.80
mvhuber
Um, okay.
34:43.86
Tyler Seward
Look at your players as workers and just try to get them to like do the do the best work and do the most work but that neglects the the organizational psychology part of it where these people aren't robots. These people have feelings These people have families. These people have life.
34:58.86
mvhuber
And.
35:03.40
Tyler Seward
Outside of work outside of their sport so you need to incorporate both sides of that you can't just neglect the human being and just expect people to be motivated to do to do more work or to to be better.
35:14.48
mvhuber
Yeah I I think motivation is the 1 the 1 subject the 1 topic where we could get a lot of bang for our buck in terms of educating not only coaches but parents as well and what I mean by that is if they understand that. The most effective forms of motivation are are intrinsic but we can create the conditions for that intrinsic motivation now we could start to change the way we behave towards people so that we're getting the most out of them. But we're doing in a way where they feel good about themselves. Right? Like it was their idea and that they feel like they're contributing versus this external motivation of like well if you do all these things and you we hang this carrot you're going to go get it which is ultimately going to lead to burnout if they don't get it right? like I'm oversimplifying. But I think teaching people about what.
35:53.90
Tyler Seward
Um, like.
36:03.16
Tyler Seward
Then.
36:08.10
mvhuber
Proper Motivation looks like theoretically and then in practice is really a way that we can get a lot of value in terms of educating the people who are responsible for developing young Athletes Young Professionals Whatever because it's It's gonna make those people feel good, but they're also gonna want to do more. To help the organization.
36:28.92
Tyler Seward
Definitely and that that reminds me of when I was in high school where I had coaches that wanted me to do certain things or or play a certain way and it's like what is actually motivating me to do that.
36:42.85
mvhuber
Are correct.
36:45.65
Tyler Seward
Ah way you speak to me your connotation Your your verb is that doesn't motivate me that completely demotivates me so it's like how can you expect me to want to do certain things when there's nothing motivating about about our our dialogue at all.
37:00.40
mvhuber
Yeah, and I think that and and that's that's a great example and that's exactly my point which is to say what ends up happening I think a lot is coaches coached the way they were coached right and they thought well if this worked on me, it's going to work on Tyler or Mike and that's not true and we have. Information now to impart to them to educate them to say no if you do it a different way. You're going to get more out of that person I think what makes them uncomfortable is it takes back some of the control because now when you create the conditions for intrinsic motivation. You've got to sort of. Step back and let that person figure it out which means you might not get the result that you want as quickly as possible. So it's easier for me to just go in there and try to fix something or yell at them or whatever to get what I want quicker but you're creating more problems for the long term and I think a lot of coaches struggle with that. That investment in the person if I invest in the person. Yeah maybe I don't get the results I want right away but by the end of a season I'm going to get everything that I want because now they trust me and they've let me figure it out and we have a relationship and like it's so complex and it's a subject that I love talking about. But.
38:05.72
Tyler Seward
Exactly.
38:13.53
mvhuber
I Don't want to go down the rabbit hole too much because we only have a few more minutes but like I just think it's so so important and it's interesting to see it from different perspectives generationally you and I are very different ages. Um, you know you know you're doing something you're in school I'm practicing but at the same time.. It's like we're on the same page here understanding like this is. The way forward and I think it's great that athletes have access to this information meaning like listening to podcasts like yours listening to podcasts like mine I think it's important also to give more access or more access to the people who are making those choices or the adults in the room if you want to call it that. So and hopefully we're we're we're we're we're doing that Work. We're doing that work together. Um, ah go ahead.
38:56.49
Tyler Seward
I Think we are for short and that's the that's the great thing about social media. Social media has lots of garbage. Lots of negative components to it but social media also has podcasts like ours.
39:12.00
mvhuber
Um, and.
39:12.10
Tyler Seward
And lots of information for you to just learn learn about yourself learn about Sports Psychology just learn about lots of beneficial things to your life and without social media like back in the day. That's why it was so hard to talk about these things because the people like us who actually like knew how beneficial.
39:21.25
mvhuber
Um.
39:31.30
Tyler Seward
Um, like your mental. Well-being is and things like that we didn't have that big of a platform to express ourselves and teach other people these things. So yeah, that's why I love social media especially Youtube and it just keeps getting bigger and better.
39:46.10
mvhuber
Yeah I like that I mean I think and I agree right? because it's such a big part of my business I mean you have to be in that you have to play in that space. But I think you make a really good point and I think social media gets a bad rap from a lot of people because they think they just. Think it to be a cesspool where people are just throwing stuff out there. But if you are really really intentional about wanting to learn and to be informed, you can find really good information and good resources out there but you have to be intentional about it and I think for us as. Content creators creators as much as Professionals. You know I think if we continue to put out good Content. It may not be found overnight but eventually someone will get to it and say hey this is really really valuable and I think if you're mission-driven which I know you are then that's really all you can ask for is people who are interested in what you're doing and.
40:35.20
Tyler Seward
So.
40:41.50
mvhuber
Find it valuable and really want to know more and be a part of it which is something that it seems like you're creating. So I I give you all the credit and in the world for that? Yeah, ah yeah.
40:48.25
Tyler Seward
Thank you I Really appreciate that every time every time I appreciate hearing that because here you say that and just people supporting like my movement your movement in general it. It motivates me to keep going. It motivates me to to go even harder. Um.
41:03.43
mvhuber
Um, absolutely.
41:07.72
Tyler Seward
And going back to what you just said about? oh I forgot I forgot the point that I was just about the make. Anyways, yeah, hope it comes.
41:16.79
mvhuber
Happens to me all the time Tyler. It's all right. It will I always say if if it's if it was that important it would come back to me. So hopefully we get it. Um.
41:29.59
mvhuber
So I I guess I want to ask you I'm curious because you were talking about a couple of the guests and given examples of a couple of guests is it is it mainly student athletes who are on the podcast At this point.
41:41.66
Tyler Seward
Yeah, so mainly mainly student athletes from f vi footer international university where I go and then also university of Miami um, but I would love to get professionals on the podcast as soon as possible. But yeah, starting with the college athletes I feel like is it is a great base because.
41:50.20
mvhuber
Um, okay.
41:58.92
Tyler Seward
It's kind of in the middle. It's not high school but then it's not professionals and these people are still getting paid for sure with these and nil deals and things like that and are under immense amounts of pressure like they are professional athletes. So.
42:09.89
mvhuber
Um, yes, yes.
42:17.15
Tyler Seward
Speaking with them as they're my peers with the same age.. It's just a perfect perfect dialogue and just a perfect perfect way to start their conversation of mental health and sports and these people that I have on the podcast I even see them outside of the podcast. So. It's like I'll see them. Out at at ah out at an event or out out at different places So That's why the college the college athletes is it's the perfect start for me.
42:37.34
mvhuber
Um, yeah.
42:46.46
mvhuber
Yeah, ah and if I could give you a piece of advice I would just say trust your instincts and be consistent and it'll continue to grow and it'll build and you'll get everything you want out of it whether it's you know, a. You know, ah a profitable business or just the ability to build relationships and help people and it could be both It could be all those things and that's that's the beauty of entrepreneurship. So I guess as we wrap up you know since you're so focused on the student athlete. Um. The last question I always ask is if you could give 1 piece of advice to any any student athlete who's listening what would be the 1 thing that you would share with them right now.
43:29.92
Tyler Seward
I would say don't forget what makes you happy outside of your sport because so many of us athletes we get so wrapped up in our sport. We. Forget all the little things in our life that we enjoy. Things that we did when we were younger that made us happy small things like drawing I had ah I had someone named Caleb on my podcast who loved singing growing up. He sung in the church even sung the national anthem at March madness because the young university of Miami was just in the final 4 he sung the national anthem there.
44:02.60
mvhuber
Wow.
44:06.58
Tyler Seward
So even though he's a track athlete he still remembers his passion for singing and that's something that I would just tell all athletes to not forget.
44:16.77
mvhuber
That's great. That's a perfect way to end Tyler. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. It was great to finally get to speak with you and hear more about your journey and I'll definitely be following along with you and I wish you all the best going forward my pleasure.
44:29.18
Tyler Seward
Thank you for having me I appreciate this conversation and I hope you the best as well.
44:34.70
mvhuber
Thank you.